V2010: Belarus

Two years ago I posted what I thought the Team USA roster would look like with what appears will be several good hits and several big misses. It is one of the most viewed things I have ever done here so I believe that others are as interested in the international tournament as I am. That being said, I plan on doing quite a bit of coverage on Vancouver 2010 in this space - including several game recaps directly from Vancouver! But before we get there, the rosters are being released piecemeal - mighty Mirtle has the breakdown of dates - and today the first one was released: Belarus.

The full roster is here but the notables are the Kostitsyn brothers, Toronto's Mikhail Grabovsky, former Penguin Konstantin Koltsov and the ever-young Ruslan Salei. Former Ranger farmhand Vlad Denisov will join Salei on the blueline in front of amazin' Andrei Mezin. I saw Mezin play years ago firsthand in the UHL and the 2002 Olympic Games and the guy can really be lights out at times, one of those Cujo-esque netminders who play better the more rubber they face. But he is getting older and the competition will be quite fierce so he likely will not be able to win any games on his own.

Belarus play Finland on February 17th, Sweden on the 19th (I'll be there) and Germany on the 20th. They should be competitive but, barring a Tommy Salo appearance, aren't likely to advance past pool play.